ATV operator acquitted of DWI charge for March incident

These questions may seem like minor details to most, but to a Brunswick man on trial for DWI Wednesday in Rensselaer County Court, the answers made all the difference.

In a three-day trial that concluded Wednesday, jurors ultimately acquitted David Spondable on the most serious charges, aggravated DWI, retuning a guilty verdict only on a violation for failing to wear a helmet.

At issue was whether Spondable, 42, was over the legal limit while operating an ATV on a public roadway when he was pulled over by a state trooper back in March of 2012.

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During the trial before Judge Andrew Ceresia, a jury of nine men and three women heard testimony from several witnesses, including a friend of Spondable's, who was walking down his driveway at the spot where the traffic stop occurred.

In his testimony on Tuesday, Steven Fink told jurors Spondable was not on the roadway, an account defense attorney Joe Ahearn believes ultimately swayed the jury.

"It was obvious the jury credited the witness's testimony, the neighbor (Fink), over the trooper," Ahearn said outside the courtroom.

The state trooper in question Michael Lewis, who testified on Tuesday that Spondable was on the roadway, a notion prosecutors failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt.

As for Spondable's fate, Ahearn said he would be released from Rensselaer County jail sometime Wednesday, where he's been held since March 7 on $25,000 bail.

"He wasn't able to raise the bail money," Ahearn said. "So he'll go back to the county where he'll be processed, but he'll be released today."

The jury took a little over two hours to sort through the evidence, sending two notes to Ceresia late Wednesday morning asking for additional instructions on the public road/private property issue.

Once Ceresia clarified the court's position, the jury retired to continue deliberations. Minutes later they sent another note announcing they'd reached a verdict.

Spondable, dressed in a blue shirt, dark trousers and a blue tie, sat motionless at the defense table as the verdict was read, leaning over only to whisper to his counsel, Joe Ahearn, as he learned his fate.